Mop wringer



July 1L 19m H. J. uw4

mor wRmGEn Filed Aug. 29. 195e Patented July 11, 1939 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

There are various types of wringers for squeez ing the water out of mopsand into a pail placed to receive the water. Many of these devicesemploy wringer rolls of one kind or another. Where rthese wringer rollsare Vturned by other means than the mop itself, such means, so far as Iknow, has heretofore comprised a crank on one of the rollers. Since thewringer rolls are not ordinarily far above the floor on which the deviceor apparatus is standing, it means that the person using the device muststoop over and be in an i uncomfortable position when operating thewringer. Furthermore, if the mop is being pressed firmly between thewringer rollers, it takes con- 'm siderable eiiort to turn the rollersby means of the usual short crank handle; and, therefore, noconsiderable pressure is ordinarily employed and the mops are not wrungdry.

The object of the present invention is so to improve mop wringers that amop may be squeezed tightly between cooperating wringer rolls and therolls may be turned easily while the person operating the device orapparatus is in a standing or straightened position instead of beingrequired to stoop down.

In carrying out my invention, I employ any suitable frame structurehaving thereon a wringer roller whose axis of rotation is fixed andhaving also a second wringer roller that may be moved from and towardthe other and make it possible, by pressing down with one foot, tosqueezel the mop tightly between the rollers. In addition, in orderpositively to run the mop through the wringer, I provide a long leverthat is more or less upright so that it may be grasped by a personstanding in the position naturally assumed when stepping on the treadlethat presses the rollers together; suitable means being provided tocause the driven roller to turn in one direction during what may betermed a working stroke of the lever and to stand still while the leveris making a return stroke. Not only do I thus secure a powerful leverageapplied by a person standing in the most natural position to exert apowerful effort if necessary; but, in the case of the ordi- Vnary mop,the distance through which it is fed during a working stroke of thelever may be such that a number of such strokes will be required to runit 'through the wringer, thereby giving periods of rest and relaxationbetween working strokes.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterizedwill hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but,for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects andadvantages, reference may be had to the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side view of a wringer device embodying the presentinvention, some of the parts being shown in one position in full linesand in another position in dotted lines; Fig. 2 is an end view of thewringer; Fig. 3 is a side view of the driving pinion and ratchet wheelwith one of the side plates omitted; and Fig. 4 is a section, on line 44 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing, I represents the base member of a frameworkwhich may conveniently be formed of a single iron or steel strap bent atits middle to form a U. The arms of the U are bent up at right angles tothe plane of the latter and then down again to form standards orpedestals 2 and 3 spaced apart from each other. The sections of eachstandard or pedestal are indicated at 2 and 3; the section 2 being therising section and the section 3 being the descending section. Betweenthe upper ends of the pedestals is journalled a wringer roller 4.Cooperating with the wringer roll 4 is a second roller 5 mounted on amovable bracket l. In the arrangement shown, this bracket consists of asecond strap bent into U-shape, the arms of the U being bent along aline extending transversely of the U so that the device as viewed fromthe side is L-shaped. This bracket is disposed between the twopedestals, being pivotally connected to the latter by hinge pins l thatmay conveniently take the form of rivets. The wringer roller 5 extendsbetween and is journalled in the upwardly-extending arm portions B ofthe bracket; and, when the loop portion 9 of the bracket is pressed downby one of the feet of the user, the roller 5 is carried into engagementwith the roller 4. A suitable spring I0 may be placed between one of thepedestals and the swinging bracket, so as to hold the bracket in theposition shown in full lines in Fig, 1 and thus permit a mop to beinserted between the wringer rolls. Upon stepping down on the loopportions 9 of the bracket, which may be said to constitute a treadle,the resistance of the spring is overcome and a mop that has been placedbetween the rolls will be squeezed thereby.

It will be seen that a heavy squeezing pressure may be applied to a mopbecause, if necessary, the entire weight of the person wringing the mopmay be imposed on the treadle. However, while it is possible thus toapply a strong pressure, this does not require any particular effort onthe part of the user. It is also my purpose to make possible the runningor feeding of the mop through the wringer, while under heavy pressure,without causing fatigue to the user or making the work heavy. To thisend I provide a long lever that extends up from a pivot point on theframe below the wringer rollers, so that itl may be conveniently graspedby a person standing in the position natural to him when he steps on thetreadle to close the rollers on a mop; suitable driving connectionsbeing interposed between the lever and one of the rollers to producepositive rotation of the roller during what may be termed Aa forwardstroke of the lever. In other words, standing with his foot on thetreadle, the user or operator simply pushes forward on the upper end ofthe long lever and thus, with little effort, causes the mop to be fed bythe rollers while, at the same time, they are subjecting the mop to a`powerful squeezing pressure. Since it will ordinarily not be desirablesimply to run the mop back and forth between the wringer rollers, thedriving mechanism for the driven roller is preferably so constructedthat it will be idle during the return strokes of the lever.

In the particular arrangement illustrated, the immediate drivingmechanism is a rack and pinion device; there being a ratchet wheel IIxed to one end of the shaft I2 for the wringer roller 4, convenientlythrough making that end of the shaft square and providing the ratchetwheel with a square central hole into which the shaft lits. The ratchetwheel II is surrounded by a pinion I3 having therein radial slots I4 inwhich are arranged sliding dogs or pawls I5 behind which are springs I6to press them into engagement with the teeth on the ratchet wheel. Theratchet wheel has short hubs I'I on opposite sides; and, surrounding androtatable on these hubs are washer-like metal plates I8 that overlap thecenter or body portion of the pinion and are secured thereto by screwsI9. Thus the pinion may rotate freely around the ratchet wheel in onedirection but, when the pinion is turned in the opposite direction, thepawls lock it to the ratchet wheel so that the ratchet wheel and theroller 4 are compelled to turn with the pinion.

The pinion I3 meshes with a gear segment 20 arranged in the planethereof and carried upon the upper end of a frame-like device 2| that ispinned to one of the pedestals 2, as indicated at 22, somewhat below thecorresponding hinge pin for the bracket 6. Overlying` the toothedsegment is a long bar of spring metal 23, the main portion of whichoverlies the pinion and is in the form of an .arc of a circle having itscenter at 22, while its end portions are curved downwardly and inwardlyinto approximately semi-circular shapes; the extreme end portions beingbent radially, as indicated at 24, and inserted in holes in the ends ofthe segment bar. Fixed to the center of the curved rod or bar is aferrule 25 into which a suitable handle or hand lever 26 ts.

The handle or lever 26 is sufliciently long to enable the user of theapparatus to stand upright, holding the mop handle in one hand and thehandle of the machine in the other hand.

The roller 5 being in the position shown in full lines in Fig. l, themop may be lowered behind the roller 4, underneath a bucket standing onthe floor underneath this roller, and may then be lifted until the upperpart thereof is just back of this roller, Then, by pressing down uponthe treadle end 9 of the bracket 6, the roller 5 is swung forward so asto squeeze the mop between the same and the roller 4. The user thenswings the hand lever back ,and forth, causing the roller 4 to be turnedduring a movement of the hand lever in one direction and to remainstationary during the return stroke of the hand lever. The parts are soproportioned that when the roller 4 turns it is in the direction to feedthe mop upwardly from between the rollers. Accordingly, depending uponthe length of the toothed segment, a predetermined number of back andforth movements of the hand lever serve to feed the mop step by stepupwardly and out from between the rollers. In this way the mop may begiven a powerful squeeze between the rollers and yet, since the leverageexerted by the user in causing the rollers to turn is very great, verylittle strength or exertion on the part of the user is required tosqueeze a mop dry.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a singlepreferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to theexact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend tocover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of myinvention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a wringer apparatus comprising a frame, awringer roller mounted in the frame, a second wringer roller, means,including a treadle on the lower part of the frame, supporting thesecond roller and permitting it to be pressed against the rst roller orbe moved away therefrom, of a long upright hand lever supported by theframe for limited oscillatory movements in both directions from avertical position in position to be grasped by a person standing uprightand having a foot on the treadle, the lever being movable in a planeparallel with the plane of movement of the treadle, and means actuatedby said lever to turn one of said rollers, when the lever is moved inone direction and permit that roller to stand still during a returnmovement of the lever.

2. The combination with a wringer apparatus comprising a frame, awringer roller mounted in the frame, a second wringer roller, means,including a treadle, supporting the second roller and permitting it tobe pressed against the rst roller or be moved away therefrom, of a longupright hand lever supported by the frame in position to be grasped by aperson having a foot on the treadle and movable in a plane parallel withthe plane of movement of the treadle, a toothed wheel coaxial with oneof said rollers, a toothed segment carried by said lever and meshingwith said toothed wheel, and a clutch between said toothed wheel and thelatter roller for permitting that roller to remain stationary when thelever is swung in one direction and cause it to rotate when the lever ismoved in the opposite direction. ,f

3. The combination with a wringer apparatus comprising a frame, awringer roller mounted in the frame, a second wringer roller, means,including a treadle, supporting the second roller and permitting it tobe pressed against the rst roller or be moved away therefrom, of a longupright hand lever supported by the frame in position to be grasped by aperson having a foot on the treadle and movable in a plane parallel withthe plane of movement of the treadle, and means, including a rack andpinion device, actuated by said lever to turn one of said rollers whenthe lever is swung in one direction and permit it to remain stationaryon the return stroke of the lever.

4. The combination with a wringer apparatus comprising a frame, awringer roller mounted in the frame, a second wringer roller, means,including a treadle, supporting the second roller and permitting it tobe pressed against the first roller or be moved away therefrom, of along upright hand lever supported by the frame in position to be graspedby a person having a foot on the treadle and movable in a plane parallelwith the plane of movement of the treadle, a shaft projecting from oneend of the first roller, a ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft, a pinionsurrounding and loose on said ratchet wheel, a pawl carried by saidpinion and spring pressed into engagement with said ratchet wheel, and atoothed segment carried by said lever and meshing with said pinion.

5. The combination with a wringer apparatus comprising a frame, awringer roller mounted in the frame, a second wringer roller, means,including a treadle, supporting the second roller and permitting it tobe pressed against the rst roller or be moved away therefrom, of a longupright hand lever supported by the` frame in position to be grasped bya person having a foot on`the treadle and movable in a plane parallelwith the plane of movement of the treadle, a shaft projecting from thefirst of said rollers, a ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft and havingprojecting hubs on opposite sides thereof, a pinion surrounding theratchet wheel, a spring-pressed pawl on the pinion engaged with theratchet wheel, washer-like plates surrounding and journalle-d on saidhubs and fastened to the pinion, and a toothed segment carried by thesaid lever and meshing with said pinion.

6. The combination with a wringer apparatus comprising a frame, awringer roller mounted in the frame, a second wringer roller, means,including a treadle on the lower part of the frame, supporting thesecond roller and permitting it to be pressed against the first rolleror be moved away therefrom, of a long upright hand lever supported bythe frame in position to be grasped by a person standing upright andhaving a foot on the treadle, the lever being movable in a planeparallel with the plane of movement of the treadle, said lever beingpivotally connected to the frame near the bottom of the latter, andmeans including a long toothed segment connected to said lever to causeone of said rollers to be turned wh-en the lever is moved in onedirection and permit that roller to stand still during a return movementof the lever.

7. The combination with a wringer apparatus comprising a frame, awringer roller mounted in the frame, a second wringer roller, means,including a treadle on the lower part of the frame, supporting thesecond roller and permitting it to be pressed against the first rolleror be moved away therefrom, of a long upright hand lever supported bythe frame in position to be grasped by a person standing upright andhaving a foot on the treadle, the lever being pivotally connected at itslower end to the frame at a point near the bottom of the latter so as tobe movable in a plane parallel with the plane of movement of thetreadle, and means including a cooperating toothed wheel on one of therollers and a toothed segment connected to the lever, to cause thatroller to be turned when the lever is moved in one direction and tostand still during a return movement of the lever, the center of thecircle on which said segment is struck being at the pivotal axis of thelever.

HARRY J. LAU.

